A Thousand Beautiful Things
by icyliciousx
Summary: Maybe you've seen nice things all around the world, but I can show you a thousand beautiful things right here. The joys and pains of unrequited love and what happens when it becomes real. Dan Radcliffe fic
1. Chapter 1

**A Thousand Beautiful Things**

Summary: "Maybe you've seen nice things all around the world, but I can show you a thousand beautiful things right here…" I found this quote randomly somewhere and it gave me the idea for this story. I was inspired about the idea of unrequited love suddenly becoming real. And then it's all over too soon. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these people except Cassandra and those associated with her. Although, I really wish I owned Tom Felton…like _really…_ sigh Okay psycho moment over. I also don't own Leavesdon Studios, nor do I own some of the songs that are mentioned in the story.

Warnings: May be a few spoilers for Half Blood Prince. Rated pretty high for future chapters, so no kids, please!

**Chapter One**:

Over the past few years, he, Daniel Radcliffe, had mastered the art of lying to the press. It wasn't so much lying as gracefully avoiding the question so that it never ended up being answered. He prided himself on this. He was invincible; he'd never end up ridiculed on the cover of those ridiculous tabloids because he was just so funny and charming, and everyone _loved_ him

It had been a good seven years since he'd been in the first Harry Potter film and promptly found himself on Regis and Kelly being asked if he'd ever had a girlfriend. Only 11 years old, he'd managed to sputter out a 'no way!' before breaking into a nervous sweat. He hated those typical questions he was always asked, 'do you have a girlfriend?', 'well, you should have loads of female admirers now, right?', 'fancy anyone on the set?', or his personal favorite, ' so what's going on between you and Emma?'.

All of them were well versed in how to answer that question; 'oh, we're really just good friends, kind of like brother and sister,'. It wasn't too far from the truth; he'd known Emma Watson since she was 10 years old- she'd grown up quite nicely during the progression of the films and each boy on the set had been attracted to her at one point, himself included, but the fact remained that Emma loved her normal teenage life and only went for the wild, shaggy and rebellious blokes she knew back home. This disappointed many- another cast member Tom Felton, for example, who'd chased her for two years- but Daniel was simply indifferent. He'd known Emma too long and too well, and even with her being an insufferable flirt (the long months filming left her restless) Daniel knew that Emma didn't fancy him.

People always got the wrong idea about his love life anyway. Everyone assumed that having heaps of worshipping fans screaming his name meant that all he had to do was snap his fingers and he'd have an instant girlfriend. The sad truth was, the girls he truly wanted didn't give him the time of day. More than once he'd almost wished he was arrogant enough to pull the 'I'm famous' card on them, but he wasn't, and the sadder truth was that it wouldn't even work on the girls he wanted anyway.

So, he continued to sidestep questions regarding his love life with clever little one liners, continued to hold Emma's hand every now and then at premieres to give the paparazzi something to talk about, and continued to wonder when Daniel Radcliffe, not Harry Potter, would have his turn with romance because, embarrassingly, Harry had definitely gotten more action than him as of the latest film, Order of the Phoenix in which he got to kiss his pretty cast-mate Katie.

This feeling of dejection did not take away his good natured personality however, and when he returned to the studios at the beginning of September after a relaxing vacation at home, he was genuinely happy to see his friends and get back in his element. He always loved the first week back; everyone got reacquainted, were introduced to new crew and cast members, and there still wasn't the pressure to have the entire script memorized and perform the strenuous stunts that had become practically essential to the films.

Daniel pushed his way through the group of people in the large multipurpose room in which they went over lines, ate, and rested, was full of people and noisy with excited chatter. Seeing Rupert alone in the far corner of the room, flinging chocolate covered raisins in the air and catching them in his mouth, he smirked and made his way over.

"Hey, don't look too excited to be back," he joked, catching one of the raisins in midair and popping it in his own mouth. Rupert grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.

"How was the break?"

"Eh, same old," Daniel shrugged, looking around at everyone. A cluster of new extras were standing together and looking starstruck.

"Yeah. How was the 18th, then? Heard it was wicked,' said Rupert.

"Got totally pissed," Daniel snorted, just as Emma walked up to them. She was pulling up her brown curls and holding some shiny black barrettes in her mouth.

"Hey, Em," said Daniel and Rupert together. Their friendship was very different than the friendship they were portraying in the films, but they had gotten pretty close over the years all the same. During the cold winter weeks when they'd been away from their families for months, stressed and exhausted beyond relief, Daniel couldn't imagine getting through it without Rupert and Emma going through it Ttoo right by his side.

"Nggh eggen ithed?" Emma mumbled through the mouthful of barrettes. Daniel laughed, while Rupert cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What??"

Emma rolled her eyes and spat the barrettes out on Rupert's lap, who gave a yelp of disgust, and let her hair fall back down impatiently. "I _said, _who's getting pissed?" Unlike her character Hermione, Emma did not have any regard for the fact that she was still a year away from the legal drinking age, and loved to drink both Rupert and Dan down under the table. Dan had a not so pleasant flashback of the New York Premiere afterparty; Emma had gotten into a few or more minibottles from her hotel room, and Dan had watched her dance drunkenly with everyone in the vicinity of the club and then he spent the rest of the night in her hotel room holding up her hair as she was sick alternately in the trash can and the toilet. Those incidents were nowhere near being frequent, but they always made Daniel fear Emma a little bit; she was sweet and polite most of the time, but she was definitely a firecracker and he was always waiting on edge for those times she spun out of control.

"No one's getting pissed, you lush, Dan was talking about his 18th," Rupert teased, tossing her barrettes back at her. Emma flung the barrettes in the air carelessly, narrowly missing the group of extras standing by the bowl of chips

"Wish we were," Emma said gloomily, "because summer's over and now it's all filming and schoolwork." Daniel smiled in mirth, and roughly patted her shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll find some very inopportune moment to get completely drunk as a total protest to all this work," Daniel reassured her.

"Har, har." Emma rolled her eyes at him, but laughed all the same.

They were just sharing funny stories from summer break when David Yates, their director and good friend, came walking over.

"Hey there guys," he greeted them cheerily.

"David! Hello." Emma smiled at him moving to sit on Dan's other side to make room for him, when David held a hand up.

"No, no need to move. I was just checking in to see if you had your scripts and all that, and were all ready to come in tomorrow to begin!"

"Yep, all set." Daniel said, while Emma groaned and Rupert nodded.

"Great! See you lot tomorrow, bright and early!" David waved and walked back to where his wife and daughter were chatting with some of the crew members.

"I guess it's officially the beginning of our _sixth_ film." Emma said in disbelief.

"So it is." Rupert said, sounding tired. The trio remained on the couch for the remainder of the night reminiscing and sharing their hopes for this new film. Rupert wanted more action, Emma wanted more drama, but Daniel just wanted something new; something to look forward to each morning. He felt that only Rupert and Emma's hopes would be fulfilled.

Please review! Also, if anyone is offended that a Dan Radcliffe story is on if you could let me know of a website that has real person fiction? I haven't found any- just real person slash sites. Thanks! Those who aren't offended...thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**A Thousand Beautiful Things**

Disclaimer: Still don't own anyone…dammit. Except Cassandra.

Author's Notes: By the way… I'm really sorry this isn't a Harry Potter story, but I still hope you like it. Reviews are much appreciated.

**Chapter Two:**

It was especially difficult to wake up the next morning, and Daniel walked into the makeup room yawning widely, not even bothering to hide it. One of the makeup artists Sheryl, a middle aged woman that reminded Daniel a lot of one of his particularly crazy aunts, smiled at him.

"Daniel! And how was your summer, dear? You've grown about three inches since I saw you last? Now how is that possible?" Sheryl pulled a chair out for him and began fussing over his hair that had grown out past his ears.

"I don't-" Daniel began, only to be interrupted by Sheryl, who was clearly much more of a morning person than he was.

"-Cassandra darling, can you hand me my trimming scissors? I can tell that this hair is going to be the first thing we need to get in shape before filming…" She continued chattering away as a girl who had been sitting atop the counter reading, sprung up and grabbed the scissors for Sheryl.

"Here you go." This girl, apparently called Cassandra, sauntered over and gave Daniel a brief glance before handing the scissors over. She looked to be about his own age, all inky hair and dark eyes and lashes. She was wearing a denim skirt with heels and Dan rather liked the combination.

"Oh, Daniel I'm sorry, this is Cassandra. She's from America! She's interning here with me and the costume department, making money and living on her own. How lovely is that? She's just your age, aren't you dear?" Sheryl was saying excitedly.

"Hi," said Cassandra, looking embarrassed at Sheryl's introduction and Daniel's scrutiny.

"Oh, I- hello there." Daniel slightly stumbled over his words, mentally scolding himself. He looked down furiously at his trainers and when he looked up, prepared to be smoother, Cassandra had sat herself back on the counter and was boredly flipping through a magazine with her iPod blasting in her triple-pierced ears.

Daniel realized with a start that Sheryl had begun to trim his hair. He subsided into silence, before Sheryl began talking again.

"Poor thing, so far from home and not knowing anyone. But she's a great help to us all the same. Now let's see how this mop of yours looks after…"

They had been rehearsing for three hours straight, before David sent them off for a lunch break. Rupert headed straight for the buffet table while Emma disappeared off into her dressing room to gab on her mobile, so Daniel fished in his pockets for his mobile to call his mother, when he realized he must have left it in the makeup room. When he reached the door, he heard music playing from inside the room which was strange; Sheryl preferred the room to be quiet (ironically, since she herself was not quiet in the least bit), so he curiously pushed the door open.

The American girl was tidying up the counters and occasionally dancing a little to the music. Daniel felt the corners of his mouth quirk up in a smile, as she twirled around a little overzealously and slipped slightly on a makeup sponge.

"Shit! Mother fuckin' piece of shit sponge!" she swore with flourish, catching her balance on the back of a chair and picking the sponge up off the floor. Turning around, she noticed Daniel standing there and grinned.

"Hey there, what's up?" Cassandra asked, bending over sideways to fix her shoe.

"I-uh, nothing…looking for my mobile."

"Oh, right. I found it this morning after you left. I _was_ gonna try and give it to you, but of course old Sheryl just talked my ear off and I couldn't get away," she rolled her eyes, but in a friendly way, and reached over and grabbed his brand new blackberry that he received on his birthday.

"Thanks. So, what are you doing here all the way from America?" Daniel asked, slipping the phone into his pocket.

"That, is a long story. But, I can give you the spark-notes," said Cassandra.

"Spark notes?"

"The short version. My dad knows Yates from school, and I've needed money for some time now, so, I'm interning here. I'm not too bad at design, and I guess I've just been helping since you lost some of your design crew from last year," she shrugged modestly.

"That- that's great…" Daniel replied.

"Yeah," she nodded, reclining back on her arms. "Sucks being so far from home and not knowing anyone though."

Just as Daniel was about to reply, Cassandra's mobile rang and she smiled apologetically and walked out of the room flipping the little phone open. Daniel grabbed his mobile and walked out too, but not before glimpsing Cassandra leaning against the wall talking and laughing into her mobile animatedly, her cheeks flushed. He didn't think she saw him as he walked past her, but as he was passing she put two fingers on his sleeve and then gave a small wave. It wasn't much, yet that was all it took.

Sorry about the shortness of the chapter. More to come! R/R.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Thousand Beautiful Things**

Disclaimer: Same old- don't own anyone but Cass.

**Chapter Three:**

The next few weeks flew by in a whirlwind and Daniel found himself looking forward to filming each day, no matter how early in the morning it was. Rupert and Emma were slightly disturbed with Dan's shameless optimism and cheerfulness, but he couldn't care less. Cassandra's presence was fun and lighthearted and they all quickly became accustomed to her. She loved every kind of music from punk rock to rap to pop, and despite Sheryl's protests, she always played music in the make up room and danced and sung exuberantly while Daniel was made up for his scenes, making everyone laugh. Unlike most girls, she didn't seem to care what others thought of her, but ironically most of them had taken to her pretty well. She was getting on quite well with his cast mate Bonnie Wright, who was somewhat of a rebel and while she was friendly with Emma, she didn't really hang out much with her. Emma was girly and flirtatious while Bonnie was more artsy and alternative. Once Bonnie had met Cassandra, someone who shared her taste in music and parliament lights, the other cast mates hardly saw her without Cassandra, and on Daniel's way to the hotel each night he would see them sitting on the brick wall outside the studio smoking cigarettes and talking, silhouetted against the night sky.

One particularly sunny morning, Daniel walked in the makeup room where Cassandra was playing Timbaland's "The Way I Are" and finishing up a stray Quidditch costume. Her outfits were an endless source of fascination for Daniel. She seemed to dress not for practicality but purely for the art of fashion; she nearly always wore heels knowing full well that she'd be expected to climb ladders and stay constantly on her feet, and, while Daniel had seen her grimace more than once, she never complained. This morning, she was wearing little madras printed shorts, a black halter top, and wickedly high espadrilles that laced up her calves. Her ink black hair hung in front of her face like a sheet as she carefully finished stitching.

Daniel cleared his throat and sat down, "Good morning."

Cassandra looked up and smiled. "Hey there. You're the first person I've actually seen this morning."

"Really? I saw people here when I walked in," said Daniel.

"Yeah, but no one's come in here. I've been here since 6 am finishing up this costume and painting some furniture for a set," Cassandra explained, dropping the costume down on the table next to her heavily.

"Wow. Sounds like a lot of work. More than I do," Daniel laughed.

"Not really," she shrugged delicately. "Besides, I'm making money. Maybe sometime soon I can do something with it."

"Like what?" He asked curiously.

"I want to travel," she told him, smiling, as if she just told him a secret. "Have you ever been to the Sistine Chapel in Rome?"

"Yeah, once, with my family." Dan said, not even caring that he sounded like the most boring person alive; she was interesting enough for the both of them.

"I want to go there. I know this sounds stupid because it's probably super crowded with lots of security, but I just want to lie on the ground and look up at the ceiling that Michelangelo painted for hours. I think that it would be the best thing ever." Cassandra's dark eyes seared into his own blue ones and he shivered involuntarily. He suddenly felt that he had missed out on his visit to the Sistine Chapel. He had read about Michelangelo's frescoes beforehand, and he and his family had filed in the room with all the tourists and looked around and listened to his father rattle on about the historical context of the era of blah blah blah… he wished he could go back and lie on the floor of the reverent chapel with Cassandra and not ever get tired of it.

"Morning!" A voice rang out, causing Daniel to jump about three feet off the ground and gasp. Cassandra merely looked up to see who it was.

"Emma," Daniel grumbled.

"Hello Dan, Cass." Emma beamed at them, her wet hair pulled up in a ponytail, and walked up to sit by Cassandra. Both girls were quite beautiful; Emma was tall, pale and thin with sinewy limbs while Cassandra was small and curvy with long legs and rounded hips.

Cassandra smiled, "hey girl. Finally finished this fucking costume. Goddamn stitches took forever since the fucking sewing machine broke earlier this morning. Cheap piece of shit."

Tom Felton just walked in at that moment, looking shocked. Emma caught Daniel's eye and just laughed. Cassandra clearly never made any effort to censor her language and she was often heard swearing like a sailor, albeit good naturedly.

"Oh- sorry Tom. Didn't see you there," said Cassandra cheerfully, winking at Daniel.

"Just got my hair bleached again," Tom groaned, sitting beside Dan and rubbing at his forehead in pain. "Bloody worst thing ever. Never look forward to it."

Emma made a sympathetic noise. "Your forehead's all red! I'm lucky I don't have to do anything with my hair. Except curl it, I suppose."

"Horrible." Tom grumbled again, after five minutes of whinging about his hair. "Feels like my head's on _fire_." Cassandra was rolling her eyes and Daniel watched her grab her glass of water from the counter, walk casually up to Tom and fling the water at his head.

"Fire's out!" Cassandra sang, while Tom sputtered and swiped the water out of his eyes. Emma and Daniel burst out laughing.

"Why, you little…" Tom jumped up and Cassandra darted out of the room with Tom at her heels.

"She's crazy," Emma said, still laughing. "But I like her."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed. "So do I." Emma raised an eyebrow, and Dan playfully shoved her.

"Oh shut up."

"Wanna go play the Harry Potter video game? I bet I can get past the zombies before you!" Emma teased, elbowing him.

"Right." Dan laughed, and the two of them walked out together. "You're on, Watson!"

The next day during a break, Dan was walking to his trailer when he heard Nine Inch Nails blasting from a parked car near his trailer. He walked curiously a bit closer, only to find that it was Cassandra. He attempted to walk by the car unseen (he had just done a Quidditch scene and was unforgivably dusty), but he heard his name being called through the open window.

Daniel turned around, sure that it had been a figment of his imagination, when Cassandra leaned out the window.

"Are you just going to stand there like a moron?" Dan half-smiled and shook his head, climbing in the passenger seat. Cassandra was curled up in the drivers seat in a short little black dress and gray leggings, her hair in a twisty little ponytail and a cigarette poking out from the corner of her mouth. Daniel brushed impatiently at the cakes of mud clinging to his trousers.

"So," Daniel struggled for something clever to say.

Cassandra flicked ash off the end of her cigarette and gave him a sidelong glance. "So…?"

"Hiding out in your car, are you?" He asked.

She laughed, "Something like that. How's filming going?"

"Great, great. I mean-" he indicated the state of his clothes, "-messy, but still going well." Cassandra took a deep drag and blew smoke up at the ceiling of the car. Daniel looked around at the simple white car.

"I didn't know you drove around here- Do you usually drive to the studio?" He asked.

"Nope. Just renting out this car for the time being. I've just gotten used to driving it. I mean it's pretty fuckin' hard when you're driving on the wrong side of the car-"

"It's not so hard, I've driven an American car once-"

Cassandra gave him a dark look, "-_not_ to mention the wrong side of the road…"

"Well at least we speak the same language over here," Daniel joked. Cass smiled.

"Right you are. You're on your lunch break, right?" She asked.

"Uhh, yeah-" Daniel replied, confused. Tossing her cigarette out the window, Cassandra started the engine and put her seatbelt on.

"Good. Come on," she said, as if Dan had a choice when he was locked inside the now moving car. The common misconception people had of Daniel being famous was that he had a constant bodyguard. The truth was, most people never even expected a "celebrity" like him to even go out in public, so when he did most people didn't even think it was really him. He did have a bodyguard during premieres and the like, but most of the time he was allowed to be on his own.

Even so, driving away from the studio during a work day without anyone knowing gave Daniel a slight feeling of alarm. "Kidnapping me, are you?"

Cassandra giggled. "It's your lunch break. Don't you want to eat lunch?"

Daniel's stomach jolted, and it had nothing to do with hunger. '_Like a date?'_ he wanted to ask. However, the only smooth line he could come up with, alas, was "uhh, sure. Yeah." In Rupert's words, Bloody Brilliant.

As she drove, Daniel clutched the sides of his seat tightly. Cassandra was an all right driver but every now and then she would see a car in the other lane passing them in the opposite direction and lose it completely, closing her eyes as if not seeing the car would make it go away. Several times, while Cassandra let out a string of colorful vocabulary, Daniel found himself grabbing the wheel for her to avoid any type of collision. Just as he caught his breath, she swerved into a parking lot. Daniel let out a couple of Cassandra's choice swear words as he smacked his head against his window. Cassandra grinned at him.

"Come on," she said. He followed.

Reviews are 3ed!


	4. Chapter 4

-1**Chapter Four:**

She had taken him to a little Chinese restaurant that was tucked away off of Route 76. The only lighting was a collection of pink and blue lamps, some kind of Chinese techno was playing in the background and the booths were set inside little alcoves that were draped in thick oriental blankets. It seemed exactly like the kind of place Cassandra would go; dark, edgy and secret.

"Been here before, then?" Daniel asked, swallowing nervously.

"Just once. London is so big that sometimes I wanna hide somewhere small," she said, and the hint of vulnerability in her voice went completely undetected by Daniel who just smiled at her. He sat across from her in one of the booths and watched her fold up her long legs beneath her.

Lunch was, as Daniel had hoped, quite enjoyable. They talked about everything, but mostly, she listened to him talk. She chewed on the end of a chopstick and leaned in to him as he spoke, her eyes seemingly burning holes into his own. She was the very best kind of listener, the kind that didn't interrupt or nod too much; just kept her eyes on his and sometimes looked speculatively at the table like she was truly thinking about what he was saying. When he was finished talking, he felt considerably lighter and slightly embarrassed.

"You don't talk much, do you." It was more of a statement than a question. He shrugged, leaning back in the cushiony seat and taking a sip of his green tea.

"Not about anything important. There aren't many people who listen anyways," he replied, looking up at her. "Especially girls. I mean I suppose fans would, but it's the girls that actually know me that don't wanna hear it from me," he said quickly, feeling a little foolish for sharing that with her. She laughed nervously, looking down at her plate. Suddenly her mobile rang piercingly from inside her purse and both of them jumped slightly. Holding up a finger, she quickly answered her phone. Daniel looked around awkwardly as she talked to whoever was on the other line.

"Hey…yeah, I'm great, how are you… eating lunch…oh, wow, really?…that's great….yeah, I miss you too…I know…yeah, that sounds good I'll call you then…ok, love you, bye." She snapped her mobile shut, and turned back to Daniel.

"Sorry about that," said Cassandra, going back to her sweet and sour chicken.

After a few minutes of silence, Daniel's curiosity finally won out against his pride and he asked "So, was that your dad or something?" as casually as he could sound.

"Boyfriend," Cassandra corrected before taking a sip of her drink. _'Of course she'd have a boyfriend.' _Daniel felt his heart sink right into his shoes, a heavy feeling of disappointment pooling in his stomach. He couldn't believe that he hadn't even thought of her having a boyfriend; he'd just assumed that she had come to London with no strings attached. But she had a boyfriend. That she apparently loved. _Shit._

"…everything all right?" Cassandra asked suspiciously, and Daniel realized he had been silent for about 5 minutes with a shocked expression on his face.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah of course. Sorry. Just tired I suppose," he said quickly. The waitress came and picked up the check. Daniel cracked open a fortune cookie out of habit (his mother was obsessed), and studied the little slip of paper that was inside. It read, "If you want the rainbow, you must put up with the rain." Thinking of Cassandra, he discreetly slipped the fortune into his pocket.

"I guess we should get back to the studio anyways," Cassandra said, smiling slightly. Dan stood up a little too fast, and together they walked out to the car.

Over the next several weeks, Daniel found that he could have easily found out that Cassandra had a boyfriend before, but he had probably developed selective hearing since he had somewhat fancied her. Each day he learned little tidbits about her boyfriend; that his name was Adam, he was 21, he lived in New York. He overheard Cassandra complaining to Emma about Adam's job in advertising in New York City, Cassandra talking to Bonnie about how cute his curly hair was, Cassandra explaining to Sheryl how the two of them met, Cassandra sitting in the hall on her mobile dreamily telling Adam she loved him. Dan couldn't even hate her for it, because she had never said anything to indicate being single or not , nor had she promised anything to him. He only felt utter disappointment.

However, their friendship was far from over; it grew stronger every day during their morning talks, their daily lunches at the Paper Lantern; the Chinese restaurant that she so loved, the moments where she told him secrets and listened to his. He found himself coming into the studios earlier to help her with the costumes, and she would sometimes make her way over to the set to watch him do various scenes. He remembered especially doing the scene of Dumbledore's funeral. Cassandra herself had painted the great white tomb and helped arranged the entire set. She stood off to the side by the camera men and watched him perform that emotional scene and after seven takes, he looked over at her and she looked him in the eyes and gave him a small but firm nod, and he knew he did the scene well. That night he walked out to see Bonnie and Cassandra sitting together on the wall like usual, even though it was getting colder and colder with each day. Bonnie's fiery hair was stark against the black skirt and top she was wearing, and Cassandra looked like snowfall next to her, in dark jeans, Ugg boots, and a fuzzy white sweater that exposed her delicate collarbones and had sleeves that swallowed up her hands in vivid white. They were sitting with their heads together going over some of Bonnie's lines and as Daniel's breath puffed in little clouds from the cold unnoticed by the girls, he would hear mumbling from both of them and Cassandra's voice ringing out with Bonnie's lines, then silence as they blew their cigarette smoke into the dusky night sky. He moved closer and heard Bonnie talking gently to Cassandra, her words unintelligible. Then Cassandra replied something, her voice quiet and shaky. Daniel unknowingly moved closer.

"-been fighting, and…" A brief silence. "Dan? Is that you?" Cassandra suddenly called out.

"Yeah," he called back, slightly sheepish.

"What are you doing lurking back there?" Bonnie called out to him, laughing. Daniel smiled and walked over to them. They were now lying on their backs on the wall with their heads next to each other, black hair melting into red, trying to blow smoke rings. The script was lying forgotten by Bonnie's feet.

"I was getting ready to leave, I just finished my last scene today," Daniel said, picking up Bonnie's script and idly thumbing through it.

"I'm so nervous for that one really long line I have- I keep stumbling over the words," Bonnie told Dan.

Cassandra took a long drag and exhaled through her nose. "Come on Bonnie, you almost have it. You just keep getting nervous. We'll go through it a couple more times and you'll be all set tomorrow."

"S'like having my own personal acting coach, isn't it?" Bonnie asked, grinning up at Daniel.

"Pretty nifty. Know where I can get one?" Dan joked, putting Bonnie's script back down.

"Nope, just don't go stealing mine, Radcliffe," Bonnie warned in mock seriousness. "You may actually need the coaching, but I'm really in it for the free parliaments."

"Hey!" Cassandra laughed, knocking the side of her head lightly against Bonnie's. "This is coming from someone who can't even pronounce the word 'phlegm'!"

"Oh, whatever." The three of them burst into laughter again. After they had all caught their breath, Bonnie sat up and squelched her cigarette out on the asphalt. "Are you going to dinner tomorrow at Lucia's?" Bonnie asked Daniel. She was referring to the dinner that Yates would have at his favorite Italian restaurant in London every year when they had completed the first few months or so of filming.

"Yeah, definitely. Didn't miss it last year. What about you, Cass?" Daniel looked down at her.

"Well, I wasn't told about it," she replied, sounding a bit left out. Daniel could sympathize with her; the cast and crew that had remained since the first film were incredibly close like family, and every time they acquired new members over the next 5 films, they always felt a little left out of the tight closeness.

"Well we just told you," Bonnie said, "and you better be there. The food's amazing."

"It sure is. Well, I have to go back; it's getting late. Good night Bonnie, Cass." Daniel turned to walk away, when he heard Cassandra's voice.

"Good job on that scene today Dan. It was really- well, I liked it." Dan looked over his shoulder and Cassandra was giving him that half-smile.

"Thank you," he said softly.


	5. Chapter 5

-1**Chapter Five:**

Daniel had just finished a scene and went to the makeup room to sit down and relax for awhile, hearing an old Greenday song playing on the stereo and Cassandra singing along. He sat down, smiled hello, and waited for her to finish up whatever she was doing. She looked uncharacteristically pale against all the gray and black she was wearing. Her hair was pinned back and she looked as if she hadn't gotten much sleep.

"Hey Dan," she smiled tiredly at him as she walked over and sat next to him on the couch, the gray wool of her sweater gently scratching at his left arm.

"You look exhausted," he told her, as she leaned her head back.

She looked at him through heavy lidded eyes and shrugged, "I'm all right. Just didn't get much sleep last night." The room was unnaturally calm without Cassandra's boisterous energy.

"Are you still coming to Lucia's tonight? It should be a nice break from all this work," Daniel said, suddenly distracted by the fact that their pinky fingers were so close they were nearly touching and one stray lock of hair was tickling at his upper arm.

"Yeah, probably." Cassandra shrugged, sounding a bit unenthused. "I'm just so tired all of a sudden." She closed her eyes again and Daniel saw her head leaning slightly towards his shoulder. He dared not to move an inch. As a wave of sleepiness hit Cassandra, her head gently touched Daniel's shoulder and her hair spilled down the front of his t-shirt like ink. Daniel attempted to breathe as evenly as humanly possible, but he felt slightly short of breath from trying to breathe slower and he gave up, realizing she was asleep and wouldn't even notice anyway. Then, without warning, Cassandra's mobile began ringing sending her flying off of Daniel's shoulder.

"Wha- oh Jesus!" Cassandra cried angrily, snatching up her mobile. "Hello? Yeah, what? For crying out loud, I was only-" she continued, waving her arms around. After she cursed angrily into the phone, he exited the room, leaving her to her conversation.

Daniel did not see Cassandra for the remainder of the day, and he ended up leaving a bit early after a round of stunts, to get ready for dinner. He and Rupert met in the lobby and the limo whisked them to Lucia's where Emma and Bonnie were already seated at the table across from each other and sipping drinks. Emma was all dressed up in a champagne colored dress and matching shoes, but Bonnie stuck to her guns and wore a black button up dress with clunky shoes, her coppery hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had strategically placed her purse and jacket in the chair next to hers, no doubt saving a seat for Cassandra.

"Hey boys," Emma greeted them, tousling her honey colored tresses.

"Hey, Em. What a day of stunts, I thought I was _never _going to get through them!" Daniel said, sliding into the chair next to her.

"Those bloody harnesses cut into my legs! Good thing that scene's over," Rupert chimed in, sitting on Emma's other side. Other cast and crew members trickled in and the room became louder as they all laughed and talked. The tables around the room were getting fuller and fuller, but the seat beside Bonnie remained empty as the appetizers arrived.

"Hey, where's Cass?" Rupert suddenly asked, realizing she hadn't arrived.

"I dunno, mate. She said she was probably coming. Maybe she got caught up," he said to Rupert, taking a sip of his red wine.

"Yeah, I-" Just as Rupert was talking, Daniel saw someone in a black peacoat come in. He turned his head, and saw Cassandra shrug her coat off, waving hello to Yates and their producer. She turned to their table and Daniel saw with alarm that she looked pale and quite shaken.

"Oh good, Cass got here." Rupert said, oblivious. Emma smiled and went back to her salad. Bonnie looked up, the alarm in her face mirroring Dan's, and she pushed her chair back with a scraping sound and hurried over to Cassandra. Daniel saw Cassandra saying something quietly to Bonnie, who put her hand on Cass's shoulder soothingly and replied. When they reached the table, Daniel gave Cassandra a smile which was halfheartedly returned. During dinner, she and Bonnie kept to themselves with their heads together, talking in hushed tones. Daniel tried to brush it off, and talked to Emma and Rupert while ever so often sneaking a glance to Bonnie and Cass. As the dessert menus were being circulated, Cassandra suddenly flinched and stood up. Even though he didn't hear her phone ring, Daniel knew it was the mobile because this motion was very familiar to him; the way she reached for her right pocket and looked around to see if anyone heard the mobile. Cassandra quickly excused herself to go to the loo, and Bonnie followed her worriedly. Daniel turned back to his conversation, but a few minutes later, the girls returned to the table. Bonnie gave Cassandra a hug and sat down but Cassandra just picked her jacket up from the back of her chair and remained standing. Completely distracted, Daniel turned to look at her, mid-conversation.

"What's up?" He asked, as she slipped back into her jacket and stuffed the mobile ruefully in her pocket.

"I gotta go-" She had a slightly frenzied look upon her face. "I'm sorry, I had a good time though." Daniel stood up and walked around to Cassandra's seat. Nervously, he pushed the chair in for her. She looked miserable. "Walk me to my car?" She asked him in the way that she asked anything; with no false hopes or promises, just straight out.

"Sure," Daniel agreed, furrowing his brow in confusion. She pecked Rupert on the cheek and patted Emma's shoulder in a distracted sort of way as they bid their farewells and Daniel followed her to the exit. As they stepped outside, Cassandra drew in a sharp breath as the cold air whipped at their faces.

"Are you all right?" Daniel asked her in a low voice. She seemed to hesitate, avoiding his eyes. Then as they reached her car which was double parked out back, she smiled convincingly at him.

"I'm good, just tired."

"Are you sure?" Daniel pressed, as she unlocked her door. She didn't answer; just stepped forward towards him and put her arms tightly around his shoulders; the first hug she ever gave him, and just held him there for a moment. Her arms pinned his own arms to his side preventing him from even returning the hug and he only managed to brush her hand as she drew away. Then she slid into the driver's seat, waved at him, and zipped away. He stood out there for awhile longer letting the icy wind cool his heated face and neck.

When Daniel arrived the next morning, he found the makeup room silent with no Cassandra. Dumbfounded, he sat down and after a few minutes Sheryl and her assistant bustled in and began getting him ready for the scene he was doing with Sir Michael Gambon that day. He talked for a bit with Sheryl as she carefully drew in some fake wounds, looking around for any signs of Cassandra. The scene ended up going very well, and during his lunch break he went back to the makeup room by habit. He sat down on the couch and reclined a bit, relaxing his strained muscles when he heard Sheryl's voice emanating from the adjoining room where the supplies were kept. He groaned, too tired to make more conversation with her, but it wasn't Sheryl who walked in, it was Cassandra. Daniel sat up straight with a start before he actually got a good look at her. She was wearing an old pair of torn blue jeans, a faded gray sweatshirt and old sneakers. Her hair was pulled back sloppily and her face was streaked with tears. She froze when she saw that he was in the room too.

"-and I'll be back in an hour then, all right dear?" Sheryl was calling. Cassandra nodded vaguely, and Sheryl rushed out, leaving Cass and Daniel alone. A small sniffle brought Daniel to his feet and he ran up to her, at a complete loss. With the absence of her usual high heeled shoes, she looked smaller and younger. He lead her to sit on the couch and she pulled the sleeves of her sweatshirt over her fingers and Daniel was there to catch her as the first few tears fell. Daniel had never heard anyone sound so broken, and with a sharp pang, he _missed_ her; he missed his cool, worldly American friend who taught him to eat rice with chopsticks, loved to dance, and smoked cigarettes in stylish outfits. He didn't know this girl at all, and he didn't know what to do during this shift in their friendship because usually she was so sure of herself and all he had to do was to follow.

Finally he brought himself to ask, "What happened?"

Cassandra rubbed her eyes frantically with the sleeves of her sweatshirt, and sighed loudly. "This is gonna sound stupid," she finally said. Daniel shook his head emphatically.

"No way," he said firmly. "Never."

"We broke up."

"Ah." Daniel nodded fretfully, unsure of what to say.

"Me and Adam," clarified Cassandra, glaring at him.

"Right, well I didn't think you meant you and Bonnie." Daniel grinned at her, coaxing a small smile from her.

"I guess it just wasn't mean to last," she said slowly. Daniel was torn between feeling happy for himself and sorry for her. He decided to act on the part that felt sorry for Cassandra. Distraught or not, Cassandra was still tough and if he annoyed her he would surely regret it.

"I'm so sorry, Cass. I'm sure it was hard what with you being here and everything," Daniel reveled in the way her shoulder blades felt underneath his palms. She gave him an incredulous look.

"What?" he asked, thinking he'd said something wrong.

"It's just, I thought that if I- I meant anything to him, that d-distance didn't mean anything." She didn't bury her face in her arms and wail like he expected most girls in her situation to do. She just stated this quietly and looked helplessly around the room. "That's all."

"It's all right." Daniel said, curving his fingers around her shoulders. Truth be told, he felt helpless too. As if there was nothing he could say or do to wipe this broken look off of his friend's face.

"I feel so small and alone now," she said, "like London's just too big."

At this Daniel smiled, because he knew exactly what to do.


	6. Chapter 6

-1**Chapter Six:**

Daniel took Cassandra by the arm and lead her outside to her car.

"Come on," he gently filched her car keys from her hand and they drove in silence on Route 76 before turning off onto the little road that Daniel was now so familiar with. They always sat in the same booth and ordered the same thing, so Daniel ordered for her this time, as she chewed the end of her sleeve in an anxious sort of way.

"So, what did he- Adam- say?" Daniel asked cautiously, once he was sure that she was done crying.

She took a deep breath. "He said that I don't call him enough, I told him I was working really hard at my job, he said that the job was stupid, I said I was happy with the way things were, and then he said he didn't want to be with someone who wasn't there for him and who only called every other day. He said he was so bored with me that he'd been fooling around with one of my friends from back home. We'd been fighting for the past few days so I knew something bad was gonna happen, but I only found out about him cheating this morning."

"I don't know how anyone can be bored with you," Daniel said bluntly; in his mind were images of Cassandra dancing across a room, Cassandra swearing colorfully, Cassandra telling jokes with her face glowing from the red lamps in Paper Lantern, Cassandra wearing leg warmers with high heels, and Cassandra sprawled on the floor of the Sistine Chapel with her dark hair fanned out behind her head.

Cassandra blushed and looked at their hands which were nearly touching atop the table. "Thanks Dan."

"It's the truth, I'm afraid. You're anything but boring." Daniel's heart pounded as her index finger slid along his pinky. He inwardly cursed his trembling hand as he pushed more of his fingers against hers. She wasn't looking at him, but at their hands, still, as she caressed the length of his fingers and he turned his hand so that their palms touched lightly. Cassandra's hand was unsteady too, as she slipped her fingers in between his and Daniel didn't even want to hold her hand in his tighter in fear that she'd realize what they were doing and pull away. They slid their hands further up so her fingers were splayed against his inner arm and he was gently stroking her wrist.

"I-uh…" Cassandra's voice cracked a little and she shook her head. Their eyes met over the table and Daniel knew that even at age 18, this was something big. He had kissed a fair few girls before from his old school, he'd kissed Katie Leung in Harry Potter, he'd been nude on stage during Equus, and he'd done a love scene in his film December Boys. He _had _experience. But all that had been highly technical. Not even real. All about appearances and perfection rather than raw instinct and pure visceral need.

He had always been a rather precocious child and his parents said that he was always over thinking. When he had first met Chris Columbus, the director who had cast him as Harry Potter, Chris had told him that he had been drawn to Daniel's eyes; he claimed that they always were focused and appeared to be thinking and analyzing. Everything had changed with Cassandra, for some reason. He was suddenly saying things without thinking and climbing into her car in the middle of filming with no idea as to where she was taking him; he just knew that this felt right. Daniel had never felt like this; a feeling that left his blue eyes glazed over, where the thumping of his heart and a strange ache inside of him completely shut down all of his rational thoughts. He found himself leaning slightly into the table and just as Cassandra was unknowingly doing the same, the waitress cheerfully placed their check on the table and picked up their glasses. Both of them jumped and sat up straight, yanking their hands back down into their laps. Daniel's heart was crashing against his ribcage, and his fingers were tingling. He pressed his hands to his burning cheeks and snuck a look at Cassandra, who had a hand to her heart and was also looking a bit flushed.

"Dan, I-" She began, looking up at him, her face clean of makeup, looking ridiculously young.

"-We should go," he said quietly, knowing she wasn't over her boyfriend and he shouldn't get his hopes up.

"We should at least read our fortunes first," Cassandra said in a small voice, handing him one. He cracked open his cookie, read the slip of paper and scoffed; crumpling it up and tossing it on the table. Cassandra was still reading hers with an unreadable expression on her face.

"What's it say?" Daniel asked.

"If you want the rainbow, you must put up with the rain," she read. Daniel's mouth felt dry suddenly.

"That's what my fortune said, the first time we ever came here." Daniel told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah, doesn't mean anything though. If anything, they just have like three or four fortunes that they use for all their cookies," Daniel said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

Cassandra pocketed the fortune just as he'd done. "Maybe." She looked like she didn't want to believe him. Daniel grabbed the keys from his pocket, and they got into the car and pulled out of the small parking lot.

"I like that quote that was in my fortune cookie," Cassandra suddenly said, as they were driving back to the studio.

"Yeah?" Daniel kept his eyes on the traffic ahead of him, scanning the road.

"Yeah. It's honest. It doesn't say that life will always be perfect. It says that you have to experience the bad in order to appreciate the good." Cassandra said thoughtfully.

Daniel thought for a moment and then spoke. "It's like that time we were in Rome, my family and I. We went to all these places my Mum wanted to go; all these modern art places and designer shops that I found so gaudy and ugly. I was so bored and I hated everything I was seeing. But finally at the end of the day, my Dad took us to the Sistine Chapel and I was completely amazed by it. Going to all those horrible places earlier on seemed totally worth it. And I'd do it again, just to see something that beautiful again." Cassandra smiled down at her lap, and that part of him that couldn't shut up around her, continued talking.

"And like, I've been around a lot of horrid girls that I don't care much for, but then you meet someone and you appreciate them becau-" He abruptly cut himself off when he realized where his sentence was going. Cassandra looked at him and then moved her hand towards him and he met her halfway over the gear shift. Their fingers interlocked and he smiled and kept driving.

When they returned to the studio, David Yates was nearly beside himself with anger. Daniel gulped and dropped Cassandra's fingers at once.

"Where. Were. You." Yates clipped off each word, his voice scarily calm.

"I-I just took my lunch break. I thought I let someone know," Daniel answered quickly. All the crew members had always found him responsible and reliable, so he knew that this was quite a shock to Yates.

"You usually do. We thought something happened to you."

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Daniel replied, feeling slightly guilty knowing that they always looked out for his safety. Cassandra was looking down at her feet, no doubt feeling guilty too.

Yates stared Daniel down for what felt like an hour, before his facial muscles visibly relaxed. "Okay, see that it doesn't." He looked from Dan to Cassandra a few times before turning around and walking back to the set.

"Well, that was close," said Dan awkwardly, turning to look at Cassandra. She gave him a wan smile which quickly dropped off her face. "I should-"

"You should go back to the set. I'm sure they're starting soon. I have some things to finish up," She said in a small voice.

"Everything will be all right, you'll see." He patted her on the arm and then turned around and walked away. Cassandra watched him walking away before going to the makeup room to work.


	7. Chapter 7

-1**Chapter Seven:**

Cassandra attempted to appear 'all right' over the next week, but she didn't seem to be any happier. She no longer danced and sung along to the stereo in the morning, or really spoke much for that matter. Several times during his lunch breaks he would peek his head in the makeup room only to find her curled up on the couch crying, James Blunt drowning out the sounds of her muffled sobs. Sometimes though, during their daily Paper Lantern trips, her eyes would sparkle or she would smile or laugh and Daniel had hope that the old Cassandra would return soon.

One evening, after Daniel had laughed himself hoarse watching Rupert rehearse his scene where Ron and Lavender had to make out (Rupert had accidentally bashed noses with the girl, resulting in a nosebleed and Rupert losing his head completely and forgetting all his lines), Yates and their producer gathered them all together.

"Good news, you lot!" Yates clapped his hands together briskly. "We're promoting the Half Blood Prince in a convention in London next weekend. Interviews, photos, that sort of thing-"

Daniel, Rupert and Emma simultaneously groaned while Tom and Bonnie rolled their eyes in disdain.

"-and there is a rather large and extravagant After-Party at the Pazo Club following the convention," Yates finished, getting a far better response than he'd gotten before. Emma clapped her hands in excitement while Rupert elbowed her and laughed. They had a great loyalty for Harry Potter as well as their careers, but interviews and photo shoots… not fun to do. However, when paired with the words "after" and "party", they could be persuaded.

"I thought that would change your mind," Yates laughed. "Now go home and look over those scripts. If I find that you haven't learned your lines by now, you'll be learning them during the After Party. Good night all."

Talking excitedly amongst each other, they gathered their things and got ready to go back to their hotel rooms.

"So, it's at a club?" Cassandra was asking, as they devoured their lunch at Paper Lantern the night before the Promotion in London. Daniel had a script next to him, and Cassandra was sketching a costume she was designing for the film. She had brightened up considerably as Dan began explaining the event taking place that upcoming weekend.

"Yeah, a really nice one. It's two floors and it's close to our hotel. We went there for our Order of the Phoenix premiere after party. We all just danced and had a great time; Emma got pretty drunk, but it was still great fun," Daniel told her. She smiled and nodded.

"I can really go?"

Daniel threw a fortune cookie at her. "Of course, what did you think? Everyone involved in this film goes. _Everyone."_

Cassandra actually laughed a real laugh and threw the cookie back at him. "Then it's a deal. I'll go. But watch out… you know I can dance better than you."

"Oh, we'll see, we'll see." It was so good to see her finally laughing and joking around again, he didn't care what she said about his dancing skills.

Saturday afternoon, Daniel and most of the young cast members had just finished their press conference and were now doing some individual interviews with various magazines.

The interview was going well; so far they'd discussed the change in Harry in the new film, how his schoolwork was going and his 18th birthday. Then, just as he'd expected, the Million Dollar Question. "So Daniel, do you have a girlfriend?"

Daniel smiled coolly, "Not at the moment."

"You've had girlfriends?"

"In the past, yes," he said, with the least amount of emotion as he could manage.

Then, the second Million Dollar Question. "Oh, well are you and Emma dating or have you ever dated? Working together for so long must bring you very close together."

"No, actually, we're more like brother and sister, Rupert, Emma and I. We know each other too well," Daniel said, still smiling. The woman looked disappointed, but wished him good luck on the film and went on to ask the same questions to Emma, who was looking quite harassed after an interview had thoroughly interrogated her on whether she had dated Tom Ducker or not. He smiled and winked at her and she gave him a rueful smile. Rupert was signing a poster and talking to a reporter, looking relatively all right. For some reasons, people seemed less inclined to believe he and Emma had some kind of secret romance, so they usually left him alone about it. Rupert was also pretty easy going and laidback and never seemed to be bothered with idle gossip about his love life. Daniel appeared calm and collected, but he was pretty impressionable and did get irritated sometimes. Emma, who was very high strung, had several breakdowns where she had read some tabloid and ran to show Daniel and Rupert, shrieking and on the verge of tears. This time, however, she seemed relatively okay and even Daniel was feeling much better about the day so far and night was soon approaching. Emma left with her assistant to get ready in her hotel suite, and Rupert and Daniel were just finishing being photographed against a huge Harry Potter backdrop.

Back in his hotel suite, Daniel finished getting dressed and was pretty pleased with the result. He was wearing a tailored black suit with a red dress shirt, white tie, and new black dress shoes. Rupert was in his bathroom, attempting to tie his tie by looking at his reflection. Finally he gave up and walked into Daniel's bedroom with the tie dangling off his neck, pulled the tie off and flung it at Daniel's head.

"Don't know why I have to wear this bloody thing," Rupert grumbled. "I can't put it on, and I'm probably not even going to be able to take it off." Daniel smirked and made a show of smoothing down his perfectly knotted tie. Rupert noticed and rolled his eyes.

"You don't _have_ to wear a tie," Daniel pointed out, lying a little. Both of them knew that this after party was a very posh event and everyone would be dressed their best. Rupert couldn't very well go dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, even though he probably wanted nothing more than to be able to. Rupert was about to reply, when there was a knock at the door. Daniel went and opened the door and found Emma standing there, tugging her dress up subtly.

"Hey! You look great. Are you both ready?" She asked, walking in and checking herself out in the mirror and then seeing Rupert with the tie in his hand and a mutinous expression on his face.

"Rupert! Honestly, you _still_ can't tie a tie? You've been going to premieres for like seven years!" Emma snatched the tie from his hand and Rupert scowled at her as she expertly knotted the tie and carefully tucked it underneath his collar. "There, that's better, isn't it?" Rupert stuck his tongue childishly at her and turned around to smooth back his shaggy auburn hair which was starting to stick up in odd places. Emma stood beside Rupert at the full length mirror and began to reapply her lip gloss. Daniel looked affectionately at the both of them preening in his mirror, and bumping each other's hips to get more mirror space. He had close friends from back home, but in some way, they were his best friends; his Ron and Hermione.

"Oi! You both look great, let's get a flaming move on!!" Daniel called, rolling his eyes. They both did look great; Rupert was wearing a dark gray suit, a blue dress shirt, and that blasted patterned tie that he hated so much. Emma looked beautiful as usual in a gold colored strapless dress with a black ribbon that wound around her thin waist, with her hair in ringlets.

"Where's the fire," Rupert grumbled, following them to the door and they walked down to the lobby.

"Is Cassandra coming?" Emma asked, a knowing twinkle in her eye. Daniel ignored it, and shrugged nonchalantly.

"I think so. Why?"

"She's been acting quite strange, hasn't she? Leaving Lucia's the moment she got there," Rupert said.

"You jerk," Emma shoved Rupert, who shouted "what did I say?" as he staggered into a cardboard sign.

"Cassandra," continued Emma, sighing, "broke up with her boyfriend. They were going out for almost a year. Of course she was upset." Emma shot Rupert a look, who was now steering clear of her.

"Yeah, she told me about it. She's been feeling better, though." Daniel said, as they reached the lobby. The driver escorted them to the white stretch limo which was parked right outside the hotel.

"Yeah, talking to you," Emma said pointedly. "Where have you two been disappearing off to anyway?"

"What's it to you?" Rupert asked rudely, clearly still annoyed with her. Emma flipped him the bird. "Fancy her?" He asked Daniel, winking, while Emma whacked him with her pocketbook.

"I was just wondering. _Some_ people actually care about their friends, _Rupert._" Daniel laughed, and put his arm around Emma before she continued her assault on Rupert.

"If I hear anyone ask me if I fancy anyone, after that interview today, I won't hesitate to use Emma's deadly pocketbook on them," Daniel said to Rupert in a mock-stern voice.

"All right, all right. But she is quite…" Rupert trailed off and looked out the window. Daniel and Emma both laughed, and this type of silliness ensued the entire limo ride to Pazo.


	8. Chapter 8

-1**Chapter Eight:**

Even though they had all been to Pazo twice before, Daniel was always amazed when he got there. The bouncer smiled at them and they walked through. "Buttons" was blasting from the huge speakers and a DJ was situated to the right of the bar. The dance floor was in the middle of the first floor and the bar was at the far end, illuminated by cool blue lights. The second floor, more of a glorified balcony, wrapped around the perimeter of the club was where the tables were, and was open to the entire place. The walls were draped in little twinkling lights and the place seemed to sparkle. The vast dance floor was already filled with dancers, and Daniel felt a rush of excitement.

"Come on!" Emma shouted in his ear, and he grasped her hand and the three of them walked to the second floor and put their things on one of the tables right by the railing, and they leaned on it together and looked down at the dance floor where the lights were flashing technicolor, and began pointing out people they knew. Yates was by the bar with his wife, and some of his cast mates were dancing. He could see Katie Leung dancing enthusiastically with Tom, and Devon dancing with one of the rather pretty extras.

"Hey!" He heard an excited voice cry, and Emma's voice reply excitedly back. Daniel turned around to see Emma, Bonnie and Cassandra hugging. His heart skipped a beat as she looked up and smiled happily at him. He had been afraid she wouldn't be in a good mood but she looked like she was already having the time of her life. Both she and Bonnie looked phenomenal. Bonnie's copper hair was pin straight and she was wearing a spaghetti strapped black dress that flared out well above her knees, which showed off her slim hips since she usually wore baggier clothes. Cassandra looked electric in her short red strapless dress, that was satiny and clung to her curvy figure. Her ink black hair was down in waves about her slim tanned shoulders, and square diamonds sparkled at her ears. Her makeup was pretty understated except that her smoky eyes were encircled in kohl, her eyelashes thick and lush.

"Hey, you." She threw her arms around his shoulders and he gripped her waist, still slightly taken aback. "Told you I'd come."

"I- I hoped you would." Daniel grinned, and subtly tugged at his collar. It was going to be a _long_ night.

Reaching the dance floor downstairs, Justin Timberlake came on, and they all began dancing. Daniel danced with Cassandra some of the time, relishing in the way the dress accentuated the swell of her breasts and her full hips, and bared her long curvy legs. She seemed to enjoy dancing with him too, locking her hands behind his neck and writhing and shimmying to the beat. Some of the time, he couldn't keep up and stood off to the side sucking down beers with Rupert, watching Cassandra, Emma and Bonnie dance with each other.

After awhile, Cassandra seemed to lose interest in the crowded dance floor. "Let's get some drinks!" Cassandra shouted to their little group, eliciting cheers from Bonnie and Emma (especially Emma). Down at the bar, Rupert and Daniel sipped at their bottled beers while Emma, Cass and Bonnie had gotten little pink mixed drinks and were downing them with astonishing speed. Cassandra and Bonnie were smoking cigarettes and dancing in between drinks.

"Someone drinks like a fish," Rupert teased, snatching Cassandra's drink from her and downing it himself and making a face. "Urgh, tastes like lighter fluid." Cassandra laughed, and leaned over the bar and whispered something to the bartender. Having a few drinks in his system, Daniel found himself looking at Cassandra's dress slide up her thighs slightly as she bent over the bar, showing her lush curves. Rupert choked on his beer, and elbowed Daniel laughing.

"You were-"

"-shut up, Rupe," Daniel laughed, punching him playfully in the shoulder. Cassandra righted herself, and stood between Rupert and Daniel.

"Okay, quit fighting you two. We're doing something else now," she said, with a wicked glint in her eye.

"Something else?" Rupert asked in confusion. Bonnie whispered something to Emma who shrieked with laughter.

"Shots," Cassandra said simply, looking very pleased with herself.

"I think that's more of Emma's department," Rupert said to Cassandra, grunting in pain as Emma whomped him upside the head.

"Oh, come on. I'm from America, we do it all the time!" Cassandra said, grinning at Rupert. "What do you say, Dan?"

Daniel was about to protest, knowing that getting thoroughly pissed tonight wasn't the best idea, but then again, if they couldn't tonight, then when could they? "Yeah, I'm in."

"Okay, we're doing body shots," Emma called, waving them up to the bar. Cassandra walked up to claim the collection of shots that the bartender arranged in front of Emma and Bonnie who were seated.

"Body, what?" Daniel asked, shocked, while Rupert sniggered. Bonnie and Emma shared an evil smirk, and turned back to the boys. Tom swaggered up to them, clutching a Rum and Coke and looking flushed.

"What are you lot doing?" He asked, as Emma hugged him hello.

"Body shots," Emma replied, sitting herself back down on the bar stool.

"Oh….God." Tom looked embarrassed, but slightly intrigued. Daniel shook his head. Tom knew what these body shots were? Sure he had an idea what they were, but he didn't want to be the one who didn't know what to do.

"You want in?" Cassandra asked, looking over her shoulder as she arranged the tequila, limes, and salt.

"Sure, I'm pissed enough I reckon," Tom laughed, and set his drink down, loosening his tie. Daniel had already shed his jacket in the heat, and Rupert had predictably removed his tie. Bonnie scooted over to allow Cassandra to share her seat, while Daniel stood behind her, Rupert stood between Emma and Bonnie, and Tom shared Emma's seat.

"What do I do?" Daniel asked in Cassandra's ear. He thought he felt her shiver, but she just winked at him.

"You'll see." The bartender handed her a die, which she placed by the glasses.

"Okay," Emma said, getting all of their attention. "There are six of us, so we're all going to pick a number between one and six, and then take turns rolling a dice to see who we do the body shot with."

Tom was up first, rolling a five, which was Rupert's number. "HELL no!" He shouted, waving his hands in front of his face. Emma rolled her eyes.

"Roll again, idiot!" Tom rolled again, and got a six; Bonnie. Bonnie grinned and winked at Cass, and saw Cassandra lean over the bar and press something to the side of Bonnie's neck. Daniel gulped, knocking back the rest of his beer, wondering what he'd gotten himself into. Bonnie swung the stool around so that Tom could reach her, and placed a lime wedge in her mouth. Tom turned to her with a shot glass of Tequila in his hand. Leaning close to Bonnie, he licked the salt from her neck, threw back the shot, and before he could pucker up his face from the taste, he took the lime from Bonnie's mouth. Daniel's mouth dropped open, and Bonnie wiped away at her neck with a napkin to get rid of the excess salt, and laughed at the expression on Daniel's face. Grabbing the dice, she rolled, and got Rupert. Cassandra wet Rupert's neck with a damp napkin and rolled the salt in a neat line on the side of his neck and handed him the lime which he placed between his teeth. Rupert made a muffled noise as Bonnie pinned him against the bar, their hair color scarily similar. She placed her hands on his shoulders and quickly tasted the salt before taking the tequila in one gulp and then taking the lime from him, their lips briefly touching causing Cassandra and Emma to peal with giggles and Bonnie to pinch Cassandra playfully. Rupert rolled, got Emma, and the game continued with Tom and Emma, Tom and Bonnie again, and sometimes got interesting when Bonnie rolled and got Cassandra and Emma got Bonnie. Daniel had gotten Emma twice so far, and Cassandra had gotten Tom, Emma, and Bonnie, surprising Daniel with the ease in which she and Bonnie both sucked on the same little wedge of lime. Tom and Rupert catcalled and whooped mercilessly, both of them as drunk as the girls.

Finally, Daniel rolled for Cassandra. She smiled innocently at him, and handed him a shot glass, before getting herself set up with salt and a lime. The alcohol buzzed inside his body, causing all sorts of images to dance inside his head. He stumbled forward slightly, steadying himself on the edge of Bonnie's seat. Cassandra looked at him with the lime between her teeth, her blazing eyes boring into his own, slightly blurred from the alcohol. She shifted her legs and Daniel's eyes darted from her cleavage to the curve of her neck to her slender waist. He felt the boundaries and familiarity of their friendship start to fade away as they entered what must be a new territory. It frightened and excited him. His rational side was telling him she wasn't over her boyfriend, but his impulsive (and slightly drunk) side was unforgivably craving her and detecting all of her teasing and flirtations from this night.

"Oh, go on Dan!" Emma called, waving her arms to the Black Eyed Peas song that was now reverberating through the club.

Daniel closed his eyes and licked away the salt as hurriedly as he could, ignoring Rupert and Tom's raucous laughter, knocking back the tequila and then facing her. Her bottom lip stuck out slightly, pink and slightly moist, and Daniel felt something coil in the pit of his stomach. Gently taking the lime with his teeth, he went to pull away when he felt her index finger touch his wrist and her bottom lip rubbed at his. Feeling a small spark, he inhaled sharply, nearly spitting out the lime. He looked at the rest of them, expecting knowing looks and laughter, but they were all preoccupied and the only one that noticed his red tinged cheeks, was Cassandra. She jumped down off the seat, and Daniel caught her as she pitched forward.

"Oh geez, sorry Dan," she laughed, steadying herself and stacking up all the empty shot glasses. Tom had disappeared and Bonnie was smoking another cigarette, talking in a loud slurred voice with Rupert and Emma.

"Are you okay?" Cassandra asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Daniel shook his head, as all the people on the dance floor seemed to blur together for a moment.

"Drunk," he admitted, as Cassandra smiled lopsidedly at him. "It's rather hot in here."

"Yeah it is," she agreed, pulling her hair away from her neck for a moment, and fanning herself. "Should we go out?"

"What?" Daniel asked quickly, looking at her closely.

Cassandra laughed nervously. "Outside. You said it's hot. We could go outside for some fresh air." Feeling that funny sensation in his stomach, he found himself nodding, even though he vaguely recalled that he should probably let someone know that he was leaving.

"Come on, I know a way out," Daniel held tight to her hand, as she lead the way. Snaking through the dance floor, past Emma having chugging contests with Rupert, past Tom and Bonnie kissing by the stairwell, past Robbie Coltrane laughing heartily, they found themselves in a dark hall.

"Where are we?" Daniel attempted to whisper, but in his intoxication ended up saying it loud enough for it to echo in the hall.

"This leads to the back door. You don't want to walk out right where the street is, do you?" Cassandra's drunk whisper was much more successful than his. Daniel shook his head, and they burst out the back door, giggling and sighing as the cold air whipped around them. Cassandra spun around and pulled him to the sidewalk. "Where to, Radcliffe?" She looked at him, little drops of rain sparkling in her hair. She looked so alluring in that moment, and Daniel knew what he _should_ say, and what he _wanted_ to say. She brushed a lock of his dark hair away from his eyes and his self control caved in, and he found himself saying, "how about my suite?".


	9. Chapter 9

-1**Chapter Nine:**

A short taxi ride later, Daniel and Cassandra got to the hotel and stumbled drunkenly down the hall where Daniel's suite was. His hand was shaking as he attempted to swipe his key card in twice before he got the door open. She walked in and quietly looked around at the fancy furniture in the tastefully decorated suite.

"Nice place, Dan. Makes me wish I was famous," Cassandra laughed, shaking the water out from her hair, and pulling it back with a red ribbon that she pulled from her tiny purse.

"Shall- shall we watch TV?" Daniel asked nervously. The alcohol buzz had slightly faded, and he realized with a start that he was alone with a girl in his suite. And, God help him, he had _no_ idea what to do. He turned to the safety blanket of their comfortable friendship and ordered Chinese food for the room.

Once the food arrived, they settled on his king sized bed to watch Blow on pay-per-view. The Chinese food brought them some familiarity, and they talked, laughed, and joked while they watched the movie. They cleared the food away once they were finished, and sat cross legged atop his down comforter with the fortune cookies.

"What does yours say?" Daniel asked, after a few moments. Cassandra eyed him before looking at the tiny slip of paper.

"It says…. I saw you on the cover of Details magazine and you look like a girl in that leather vest!" Cassandra looked at him evilly and then burst into giggles as he threw his cookie at her, which she ducked.

"A girl?!" He shouted.

"A prat in leather!" She said in a fake British accent, laughing at Daniel's expression. He lunged for her and she grabbed a pillow and whacked him over the head with it. A small tussle followed in which Daniel grabbed another pillow and they hit each other while trying to wrestle the others' pillow away. As Daniel was catching Cassandra in the stomach, the wooden edge of the foot board tore the pillow a bit, causing little white feathers to spew into the air, catching in Daniel and Cassandra's dark hair. She struggled up to lean on her elbows, took one look at the feathers in Daniel's hair and burst out laughing again.

"You-" She gasped, before starting to laugh again. She grabbed at Daniel's pillow and he dropped it and started scrabbling at her sides, causing her to drop the pillow and squeal with laughter. She raised her arms to push him away and he pinned one of her slim wrists above her head, giving him more access to her upper body, as she shrieked 'uncle'. Had he been sober, he knew this wouldn't be happening, but his senses were slowly but surely taking over his thoughts altogether. As he had been tickling her slim waist gleefully, she had managed to un-tuck his dress shirt in an attempt to tickle him back and finally spidered her fingers against his sensitive sides. Jerking at the unexpected feeling, his arms buckled and suddenly he was fully on top of her. They were too drunk to notice, and Daniel was still gently stroking her satin covered stomach until Cassandra managed to free the arm that he'd pinned down and was grappling underneath his arms as he shouted with laughter.

Then they both seemed to lose their breath at the same time, and that distraction was all it took; they both realized where they were. Cassandra was underneath of Daniel, her dress rucked up around her upper thighs and her fingers touching the bare skin at his waist. He took a deep breath and risked a look at her and got lost in her gaze. His heart hammered crazily and he started to shift to move off of her when he realized one of his legs was under hers, and they were too entwined to untangle easily. Her breasts swelled as she took a deep breath and he hadn't realized their faces were so close. Her fingers brushed against his abdomen as she moved her hands from underneath his shirt. Something inside them snapped, and neither knew who moved first, but suddenly they were kissing feverishly. With a sigh of relief or something more, Daniel stroked the side of her face and she deepened the kiss. Wanting to pull her closer, but afraid that breaking the kiss would bring her to realization of what was happening, he slowly brought her up to straddle his lap and she wound her arms around his neck as he tugged her hair free from the ribbon and jerked his hands through the waves. He broke away from her mouth and trailed small kisses across her chin to her ear and then down her neck lovingly, trying to show her what she deserved; what Adam should have given her. He kissed the sensitive skin behind her ear as she began to undo the buttons of his shirt one by one. Once it was unbuttoned, she threw it carelessly to the floor and soothed away his goosebumps with her warm hands. Coaxing his mouth open, they kissed tongue to tongue, her legs wrapped tightly around him. He shuddered as he felt her hands slip down his chest and began to unbuckle his trousers. Throwing his belt somewhere in the vicinity of where his shirt had dropped, she had managed to unbutton and unzip the trousers, and his cheeks flushed darkly. His hands, which had been fisted in her hair, slid down her bare back and landed on the zipper of her dress. He kissed her briefly and looked questioningly at her. She said nothing, but pushed her body closer to his to give him better access, and he rested his chin on her shoulder and gently unzipped the dress and then lay her down against the pillows by his headboard, standing up to switch the light off. When he turned back to her, he realized, with a flutter in the pit of his stomach, that she had wriggled out of her dress already. He let his trousers drop to the floor then climbed up next to her. Laying on his side, he ghosted his fingers over her body, not knowing what to touch, or how to do any of it. She giggled at the light touch and rolled on her side too so that she was facing him.

"Have you done this before?" She whispered, their noses touching softly.

He kissed her, cupping her face in his big hands. "No. No I haven't, not really," he confessed. She sat up and he began to panic, thinking she was going to leave, when she rolled him over on his back and straddled him.

"I'll teach you," she murmured into his ear, briefly sucking his earlobe as he groaned. Pinning his arms down, she brought her mouth up to his and gently began running the tip of her tongue gently over his bottom lip. He shivered and tried to kiss her, but she kept him pinned down firmly. She nipped his lip lightly, then began sensuously sliding her lips against his so softly, teasing him until he moaned and arched his back. He turned his head to the side and she softly kissed up and down his neck, occasionally trailing the tip of her tongue up and down and then blowing lightly. Daniel was so hard that it hurt. She brought her lips back to his and began teasing him lightly and incessantly and then suddenly she circled her hips against his and he turned into the pillow to muffle his groans. He felt the resistance on his arms slightly give way, and he broke one arm free to grab the back of her head and hungrily claim her mouth, kissing her aggressively and then gently caressing her thighs. She sighed into his mouth, and sensing her submission, he sat up, Cassandra still straddling him, and reached behind her to unhook her bra. Throwing it to the floor, he allowed himself to look down, and then he was nervous again. _Fuck._

"Here," Cassandra whispered, bringing his hands to her breasts. He softly touched them with little strokes, afraid he would do it wrong. She arched into his hands and then looked into his eyes with that burning gaze that undid him every single time.

"Cass…"

Their mouths fused together again, and Daniel thought he was whispering something in between kisses, but he wasn't sure and he was too drunk, too far gone to even care. She rolled off of him and the moonlight played across her skin, as she hooked her fingers in the waistband of his boxers. Looking him in the eye, she slowly peeled them off and slid her hands back up his legs to warm them up from the sudden chill.

"Cass." He wanted her so bad, he rolled them both over so that he was now on top and their bodies were aligned perfectly. His hips slowly moved against her, and she jerked her hips back up, the silk of her panties brushing against his skin. Daniel swallowed, and decided that the best way to go about this, would be to keep his mouth occupied so he didn't say anything stupid. He trailed his tongue down her neck and placed wet kisses across her collarbones, and then covered her nipple with his hot mouth, causing her to squeak in surprise, and lift her hips a little. Gently stroking the other with his hand, he went with his instinct, and sucked lightly, eliciting a gasp from her. He kissed down her stomach and dipped his tongue into her bellybutton. She made a small sound, and reached down and stroked his dark hair. Wrapping his mouth around her hipbone, he decided to experiment a little, and he gingerly ran a finger across the satin between her legs. Her hips jerked and she tightened the hold on his hair a little painfully. Moving down a little, he took the edge of her panties between his teeth, and with the help of his other hand, tugged them down her legs and then tossed the over his shoulder.

He lay back next to her and began caressing the length of her body as they kissed each other hard. His hand shook as it slid down her belly, and then he felt her fingers gently guide his hand to the right place. He curiously touched her with one finger and she moaned against his mouth as his finger came away with something wet. Something about the sound sent another shock of desire through his veins and he leaned up against the headboard and gathered her small frame up in his arms. With him cradling her on one arm, it allowed his other hand to trail up and down her splayed legs and it allowed her to touch him too.

She gently took him in her hand and he squirmed from the delicate touch. She began moving her fist up and down, and he leaned his chin on her shoulder and began to moan helplessly.

"Nghh- Cass…" He breathed, his hips moving seemingly on their own.

"Dan…I like you," Cassandra said, her breath tickling his ear. Daniel's heart lurched and his hand slid around the inside of her thigh.

"You already know I like you," he said, nuzzling into the crook of her neck, his fingers softly touching her between her legs causing Cassandra to arch up into his hand and cry out. She whispered something into his ear, and he kissed her mouth and began circling a finger around the tiny bundle of nerves and she said something in a strangled voice and began stroking him harder and faster, his hips thrusting to meet her hand.

"Cass…mmmm, I-"

"Dan," she murmured in his ear, and he slipped a finger inside her, feeling the heat surround his finger and wishing it was something other than his finger…

"Cass, I want you…" His hips jerked up into her fist and he used his fingers to thrust in and out of her and his thumb to gently rub her clit.

"Dan, I-"

"I'm gonna-"

"Dan…Dan…" Hearing his name like that completely undid him. He turned his face to kiss her gently, then, Daniel and Cassandra buried their faces in each other's necks and let go, Daniel muffling his voice against her skin, and Cassandra crying out his name into the dark room.


	10. Chapter 10

-1**Chapter Ten:**

The first thing that registered in Daniel's mind the next morning, was the almost unbearable pounding of his head.

'_What happened last night…OH!'_ Realization hit him like a ton of bricks and he sat up abruptly. He groaned loudly, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. Opening his eyes slowly, he willed the nausea away and tried to focus on the room. The television was playing on low; some daytime sitcom, and rain was pouring in sheets outside as lightening cracked through the clouds. The clock read that it was just after noon.

"Oh my God….oh my god…." Daniel moaned, rubbing his temples fervently. Last night came to him in blurred clips, whirring around in his mind. A particularly vivid image of Cassandra splayed in his arms caused him to wonder how much he'd actually had to drink; he'd gotten farther with Cassandra in one night than he'd tried to get in three months. Suddenly thinking of her, he looked beside him and found that the bed was completely empty. Her red clutch was still lying on the bedside table along with her little flip phone, but otherwise there was no trace of her.

He lay back down and curled up on his side, hoping to sleep away the piercing hangover. He had just fallen into a drowsy little half-sleep, when he felt a drop of water fall on his cheek. Brushing it off as a dream, he slept on. Curiously, the little pinprick of water caught him on the forehead this time, hanging precariously on his temple and then rolling across his cheek and the bridge of his nose. Just as he went to brush it away, someone did it for him. His breath caught and he dared not open his eyes or move. Cool fingers began brushing his forehead, pushing his hair back. Cassandra. He felt the bed shift as she settled down behind him. Her fingers went from his forehead to his shoulder blades and she began absentmindedly stroking down his back with two fingers causing him to shiver as his goosebumps burst from her touch.

"You know, it's really rude to pretend you're asleep when you're really not," Cassandra suddenly pointed out, withdrawing her fingers. Daniel froze, not knowing what to say, and not knowing whether he wanted to face her.

_"_S-sorry…" He mumbled and rolled over to look at her. She was wrapped in one of the hotel's complementary bathrobes, her hair streaming wet. Her face was scrubbed clean of makeup and her skin was still damp from the shower she'd apparently taken.

"How're you feeling?" She asked, squeezing the water out of her hair. Daniel shrugged, watching the water fall in rivulets from the ends of her hair, disappearing underneath the bathrobe.

"Pretty horrible. It's just my head…" he trailed off, rubbing furiously at his forehead.

"Yeah. Me too," Cassandra said, her face stark against her gleaming wet hair. "Do you remember anything you did last night?" she asked casually, leaning back against the pillows. Daniel watched the moisture from her hair soak into the pillowcase and wondered whether or not it was a trick question.

"I do remember some things," Daniel said carefully.

"Yeah?" Cassandra gave him a little half smile, and quirked an eyebrow. A particularly loud thunderclap caused both of them to jump slightly. Daniel smiled, and turned to look at the storm out the window. At the moment the next thunderclap sounded, Cassandra flopped on her side and began tracing his collarbone. He swallowed nervously. The storm raged on.


End file.
